Secretary of State
US Senators urge Joe Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to “explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.” They want the Biden administration to stop royalties flowing from businesses including U.S. energy major Chevron to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, an agency within the energy ministry, that provides financial support to mil...
U.S. says North Korea an urgent priority for the United States
North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs are an urgent priority for the United States and Washington remains committed to denuclearization of the country, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. The Biden administration’s lack of direct engagement with North Korea should not be seen as an indication that the challenge posed by its weapons programs was not a priority, department spokesman Ned Price said. “It in fact very much is,” he told a regular briefing. North Korea continued to make progress in its nuclear and missile programs in recent years “which makes this an urgent priority for the United States and one that we are committed to addressing together with our allies and partners,” Price said. “And … the central premise is that we remain committed to denuclearizat...
Hillary Clinton renews call for abolition of U.S. Electoral College
The former U.S. First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Monday renewed her call for the abolition of the country’s Electoral College. She made the call in a tweet shortly after voting as an elector alongside her husband and former President Bill Clinton in New York. “I believe we should abolish the Electoral College and elect our president by the winner of the popular vote, the same as every other office. “But while it still exists, I was proud to cast my vote in New York for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” the tweet reads. Recalls that Hilary lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump despite winning the popular votes. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. ...
US sanctions Chinese, Russian firms over Iran dealings
The US on Friday announced economic sanctions on Chinese and Russian companies that Washington said had supported the development of Iran’s missile program. The four firms, accused of “transferring sensitive technology and items to Iran’s missile program,” will be subject to restrictions on US government aid and on their exports for two years, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. The sanctions, imposed Wednesday, were against two Chinese-based companies, Chengdu Best New Materials and Zibo Elim Trade, as well as Russia-based Nilco Group and Joint Stock Company Elecon. “We will continue to work to impede Iran’s missile development efforts and use our sanctions authorities to spotlight the foreign suppliers, such as these entities in the PRC (China) and Russia, that provide mi...
US election: Donald Trump makes first appearance since ‘defeat’
US President Donald Trump makes his first official post-election appearance Wednesday for what should be a moment of national unity to mark Veteran’s Day, now marred by his refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden’s win. The president visited Arlington National Cemetery around 11:00 am, four days after US media projected his Democratic rival would take the White House. Since then he has not addressed the nation other than via Twitter, and has not conceded to Biden, as is traditional once a winner is projected in a US vote. And with Covid-19 cases shattering records across the country and states imposing new restrictions in a push to contain the virus before winter arrives, Trump seems to have all but shelved normal presidential duties. Instead, he has remained shut up inside the presidential mansi...
Tehran, Brussels reject Donald Trump’s ‘snapback’ plan for Iran sanctions
Iran and the European Union have both rejected United States President Donald Trump’s plan to trigger the “snapback” mechanism in the Iranian nuclear deal to impose sanctions on Iran. “The Americans got out of the atomic deal in May 2018 and they know very well that the implementation of the snapback is something illegal and, therefore, absolutely unacceptable,’’ Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Sunday, according to state media. The snapback was granted to the participants in the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement between major world powers and Iran in the event that Tehran violates it. However, under Trump, the United States withdrew unilaterally from the agreement in 2018. “Since Washington withdrew from the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of...
Mike Pompeo: Donald Trump days away from moving against TikTok
President Donald Trump is days away from announcing strong action against the popular Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok to protect US national security, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday. The post Mike Pompeo: Donald Trump days away from moving against TikTok appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
US coronavirus death toll hits 100,000, cases now 1.7million
The coronavirus death toll in the United States hit 100,000 on Tuesday. According to renowned data website Worldmeters, the toll hit the mark around 6:00pm Nigerian time. On May 17, the figure reached 90,000; half of the number died in just one month. As at April 19, John Hopkins University and Worldometers, put their individual tallies at 40,000. America is currently the worst-hit country in the world. The U.S. has recorded 1,710,000 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak. Globally, over 5,630,000 cases have been recorded with nearly 350,000 deaths. 2,400,000 patients have recovered. President Donald Trump and his administration’s officials insist that China knows more than it is telling about the virus. The American leader recently suggested that Beijing wanted him lose the presidential...
China admits to destroying early coronavirus samples, says action was taken due to safety concerns
China has acknowledged it destroyed early samples of COVID-19, confirming a claim put forward by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late last month. On Friday, Liu Dengfeng, a supervisor with China’s National Health Commission, admitted that ‘the Chinese government issued an order on January 3 to dispose of coronavirus samples’ at unauthorized laboratories, according to Newsweek. But Liu denied that the samples were destroyed as part of a cover-up, insisting that they were disposed of so as to ‘prevent risk to laboratory biological safety and prevent secondary disasters caused by unidentified pathogens.’ He stated that the labs were ‘unauthorized’ to handle such samples, and they had to be terminated in order to comply with Chinese public health laws. Liu did not specify how many labs des...
